When we talked to Paul Wesley about this Thursday’s episode of The Vampire Diaries – the one in which Stefan mentions turning Elena (Nina Dobrev) into a vampire, bites his wrist, and may force her to drink his blood in a speeding vehicle – he hadn’t seen it. He had, however, received a call from TVD exec producer Julie Plec to tell him the intense moments between Stefan and Elena were some of her favorite scenes. “He’s essentially kidnapping her,” Wesley says. “There’s layers of humanity, regret, and sadness in his eyes, but it’s all sort of masked by this sociopathic, raging maniac who’s scaring her to death. His relationship [with Elena] is sort of the antithesis of what it was, which was this really romantic, soft, protective relationship. Elena is the key to everything [in his battle with Klaus], and Stefan will go to any extreme to get what he needs, which makes him much more terrifying.”

For the first two seasons of CW’s big hit THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (Thursdays at 8 PM), it was easy to tell the two vampire Salvatore brothers apart. Stefan, played by Paul Wesley, was the good one who never wanted to kill humans, and Damon, played by Ian Somerhalder, was the bad one, who killed whoever and whenever he wanted. In Season Three, the tables are turned. Stefan has let his inner Ripper emerge, and Damon, along with Stefan’s human girlfriend Elena (Nina Dobrev) are desperately trying to restore Stefan to his old self.

Wesley is having a blast with the changes in Stefan. This isn’t the only supernatural character he’s portrayed – back in 2006 and 2007, Wesley was half-angel Aaron Corbett in ABC Family’s FALLEN, based on Thomas Sniegowski’s novels. He’s also been a werewolf and a Luthor. He talks about violent Stefan, quasi-angelic Aaron and his other paranormal gigs here.

Stefan Salvatore, one of the main characters on "The Vampire Diaries," is probably the sweetest vampire on television. When someone is turned into a vampire on this show, their character traits heighten to a more extreme level. As a human, Stefan cared about other people's feelings and loved with his whole heart. As a vampire, this special part of him heightened, especially when he fell in love with Elena Gilbert. Here are the top five sweetest Stefan Salvatore quotes from both Season 1 and Season 2.

Quote #1: "Well I compelled the guard to go on break so I could kiss my girlfriend on the top of the Ferris wheel." (Season 2, Episode 2)

Stefan and Elena's relationship is constantly strained by complications with Damon, the original vampires, and the friends and family they are keeping secrets from. It is hard to date a vampire, especially with all the baggage from Stefan's past. He says this quote to Elena after a long day of dealing with everything that goes wrong with their lives. He wants to be able to truly experience life with Elena.